Executive Team

Clarence Covey

Founder

Clarence Covey is the Executive Chairman and key shareholder of Crawford Packaging (the company). The company was started by Dick Crawford in 1962 and was purchased by Clarence in 1980.

Clarence had a strong Sales leadership history in the packaging products industry, working as a manufacturer’s sales representative for a company called “Packaging Industries” which was out of the U.S.  He also sold to distributors across Canada, a foam product called PolyFoam.

In the 1980’s the company was growing at approximately 30% growth per year. Clarence feels very fortunate to have had great people working by his side and bringing the company to where it is today. Clarence is now involved more in the high strategic decisions of the business and “leaves the rest to his Executive Management”.

Clarence’s understanding that “you must buy the product at a good price and sell for more than you payed for it”, remains the same sound foundation where his business mindset began.

After 36 years, Clarence is “looking forward, and that the company’s growth will continue strong”.

John Ashby

President

John Ashby is the President of Crawford Packaging and started with the Company in 2003.

John is a CPA and a graduate of Western’s Ivey Business School from both the HBA and MBA programs. Before joining Crawford, John was the Canadian Country Manager for divine Solutions plc, a Chicago based public company specializing in software and the information industry.

John is a shareholder, member of the Board of Directors of Crawford and also reports to the Board. The Board meets on a quarterly basis and is responsible for the governance and strategic direction of the Corporation.

John is responsible for the top line and bottom line of the Company but more importantly for the Vision, Mission and Culture of the Company. The Company aims to be a leader in its industry with a knowledge based culture and performance solutions. With four acquisitions in six years the Company is growing rapidly, with no end in sight!

When not at work you can find John at the hockey rink (watching his children or playing himself) or in the summer at the golf course. John enjoys the monthly meetings with every department to stay connected with the staff.

Andy Craig

Executive Vice President

Andy graduated Cornell University with a BSc. in 1987 and began his working career in the Banking Industry.  After 1 year with The Bank of Montreal Andy moved to Florida to play professional golf for 21 months.  Andy’s career in packaging began November 7 1989 with L&E Paper in Barrie Ontario as a field sales professional.  After 5 years in sales Andy earned the position of Sales Manager, where he began to learn the skills required to help to guide and manage a group of sales reps.  As Andy was expanding his knowledge during this time, L&E Paper was acquired by Crawford Packaging out of London on February 1 1997.  Growing up in the food service industry Andy quickly began to learn and understand the industrial side of the business from Crawford. Growing and expanding at a very steady rate and with the changing needs of our business, Andy steadily progressed to Director of Sales and then Vice President Sales.

Andy loves the packaging business because the industry is ever changing and very dynamic in nature.  Each and every client has a different set of needs and wants which allows us to be creative in the solutions that we bring.  Andy loves the process of assessing a problem and bringing answers for the client to help drive their business to a higher level. 

Andy enjoys helping to grow our people. With the most professional sales group in the industry and assisting Crawford’s people be better in all aspects of professional sales gives Andy a tremendous amount of satisfaction.

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